The Dark-Side of the Niagara Peninsula Wine Country

In search of big, elusive Canadian red wine – Niagara on the Lake Edition

If I was to judge the Regional Appellation of Niagara-on-the-Lake’s ability of producing big, luscious red wines from what is available in liquor stores, I’d have to say they don’t exist. I spend a lot of time in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and some of that at the LCBO, checking out the local supply. I came to the conclusion that this answer would require some self-discovery. I started the search mapping out the four sub-appellations of Niagara River, Niagara Lakeshore, Four Mile Creek and St. David’s Bench with little evidence to go on.

The Niagara-on-the-Lake region has about 38 wineries that produce 182 thousand cases of wine each year. That would be about just under 5,000 cases per winery. If you compare this against the total Niagara Peninsula where the average production by winery is 20,000 cases this region is 4-times smaller. So what does this mean? Most of these wineries don’t have sufficient volume to get access to the LCBO or any other retail chains to sell their product. Small quantities translate to higher input costs per bottle with no economies of scale. The only way you can access the product is directly from the winery or on their website.

To ensure my following review remained balanced and informative, I brought along my favourite critic – my wife. We’d previously reviewed Canada’s Okanagan and Similkameen Valley’s prior to our Ontario outing, and though we were pleasantly surprised with our findings, we knew it was best to manage our expectations this time around as well. But the fact that the article doesn’t end here should tell you we dug up some treasures. Here is what we found:

Wayne Gretzky Estates Wines

Our first stop was Wayne Gretzky Estates Wines. It wasn’t a planned stop. We were caught in a construction zone right in front of the winery and were persuaded by the number of people milling around the showroom. We took a sharp right into Wayne-Gretzky-land, complete with iconic black & white images of Wayne when he wore skates to work. Unbeknown to us, this was the grand opening weekend of this new 23,000 sq. ft. barn-like structure that included the winery, tasting rooms, retail and hospitality spaces, and a distillery--crafting Canadian Whisky for the true hockey fan. The Estate is jointly owned by the Great One and Andrew Peller Limited, a major producer and marketer of wines in Canada. Andrew Peller Ltd. has over 17 wine brands from wineries in B.C., Ontario and Nova Scotia, with over $334.3 million in sales in 2016.

Pushing our way into the tasting room, we bellied up to the bar to fuel up and take a load off. After shelling out $14 (for two tastings), a gas bar may have provide more value for the dollar. We had the privilege of tasting three unmemorable red wines. Understanding this was the grand opening with lots of festivities (music, food trucks, tours, etc.) it felt over commercialized and less about the wine experience. We quickly laced up and skated over to a sister winery next door.

Trius Winery at Hillebrand

Trius Winery (part of Hillebrand) is also owned by Andrew Peller Ltd. It’s one of the oldest wineries in the area with over 30 years of crafting fine VQA wines, including a special accolade as the Best Red Wine in the World 25 years ago. It was time to see if that recognition was still valid. After our last experience at Wayne Gretzky Estate we decided to pace our wallet and share a tasting. Call it a rebound tasting, but we were pleasantly surprised. We tried the Trius 2015 Cabernet Franc, Trius 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon and the Trius 2014 Merlot. The Merlot was a winner with lots of fruit, including cherry, blueberry and plum, with notes of tobacco and spice with a nice finish. The acidity level was manageable. Trius renewed our hope in finding a red we could love.

Rancourt Winery

Our next stop was down the road towards the Heritage District at Rancourt Winery. This small boutique winery was started by a fruit farmer, Lionel Rancourt, who had a dream of making great red wines. Today, his legacy is carried on by his wife Lorraine and son Dennis. Their website states “we pour our hearts into every bottle.” A great line if your heart tastes delicious. Well, you know what I mean.

Nestled in their intimate tasting room, our wine guide began to explain the influential flavours their unique soils (deltaic sands & silts) and warm temperatures provide their full-bodied reds. I’m intrigued.

The first wine served was the Rancourt 2012 Cabernet Franc, blooming with big cherry, black berry, chocolate and vanilla. The next was the Rancourt 2012 Merlot, followed by the Rancourt 2012 Founders Blend with an even blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Petit Verdot. This wine was rich, complex and cellar worthy. Our hearts were touched by what we had tasted. Great reds can be grown in the Niagara Peninsula!

Big Head Wines

Our next stop was at a metal clad storage barn with equipment and hoses everywhere. Was this the right place? We then notice a "Welcome to Big Head Wines" sign by the door to the building. We were at the right place, whatever this place was.

We entered a large storage area brimming with wine barrels full of precious cargo. We wondered further into the building until we saw the traditional tasting bar. A young lady came over and assured us that we were at the right place. Did we look like we’d wandered in the back entrance? She assured us that the server would be with us shortly.

A good-looking, energetic young man named Tima greeted us with enthusiasm. Before the tasting kicked off, he began with a story. Andrzej Lipinski, the story’s protagonist and polish immigrant, was the owner of this establishment. He was a mechanic by trade who got his first taste of wine-making at Vineland Estates in the early 1990s. Since then he’s s made his mark as a winemaker at numerous wineries, including Legends, Fielding, Organized Crime, Megalomaniac, Foreign Affair, Burning Kiln and Cornerstone. All of these places sound like a spy novel. If this story pans out, we’re in for a treat.

Andrzej’s secret is making big red wines utilizing the Appassimento treatment, an Italian practice of partially drying ripe grapes. Here, they dry them in tobacco kiln driers (of which are numerous in this area from past tobacco farmers) to concentrate the grapes’ colour, richness and complexity. After drying for weeks or months, the grapes are pressed and naturally fermented which can take four to five months, compared to the few weeks by man-made yeast. The simple technique of Appassimento allows the grapes to increase sugars, reduces acids and evolves the flavours to full-bodied red wines customary in warmer climates like California. The other technique he uses is Ripasso, another Italian word meaning “repassed” or “go over again”. In essence, the leftover grape skins from the first fermentation are dried to kick-start a second fermentation that adds layers of texture and complexity. He definitely solved the acidity problem.

Tima eagerly walked us through the reds with great details:

Big Head 2016 Red made from 50% Cabernet Franc (ripasso), 20% Merlot (ripasso), 14% Petit Verdot (appassimento), 8% Malbec (appassimento), and 8% Cabernet Sauvignon (ripasso). They used 75% American and 25% Moldovian oak barrels for four months. This was a pleasant black and red berry, fruit-forward wine, with a hint of tobacco and spice on the nose. This wine was well-balanced, fairly smooth and easy to drink. This was a very nice introduction to Andrrzej’s magic as a winemaker. We were ready for more.

Big Head 2015 Merlot made 100% appassimento is rich in blackberry and blueberry, with a hint of vanilla and a wonderful balance.

Big Head 2015 Bigger Red a blend of 55% Cabernet Franc (appassimento) and 45% Merlot (appassimento) that was aged in Moldovian oak barrels for 17 months. They described this wine as a “serious red” with little dispute from me.

We finished with the Big Head 2014 Cabernet Franc that had the full appassimento treatment and 18 months on Moldovian oak barrels. This full-body, jammy wine is packed with dark berries and cassis, with smoky undertones and a long peppery finish with lots of tannin.

Big Head was definitely a Big Hit.

ICELLARS Estate Winery

Tima recommended our next stop be to ICELLARS Estate Winery. I thought this place was going to be a trendy, new-age, hi-tech “iWinery”. But no, the “i” stood for Icel – the name of the owner and winemaker Adnan Icel.

This is a man living his dream. Born in Turkey, Adnan, a mechanical engineer, went on to make his fortune in the US building steel structure buildings covered with a durable fabric similar, to the winery production and tasting facility he built. He retired and moved his family to Oakville, Ontario.

As a man of action he started to pursue the art of wine-making in his basement. I asked him how he learned such a skill and he quietly told me he subscribed to every wine journal possible and continued to read every book on the subject. Talk about maxing out your library card. It took him a couple of years to finally produce a product that was drinkable, he explained. There was always something he screwed up but he continued to persevere. Then he and his wife Elif decided that they should buy land to grow their own grapes. After studying the Niagara region, its many micro climates and varied soil types, they found the perfect spot in 2010 – a 60-acre fallow land in the Four Mile Creek area, which included a strip of red mineral soil perfect for Cabernet Sauvignon. Currently they have about 17 acres cultivated.

Adnan doesn’t fool around. He is dedicated to making the best and biggest red wines possible with only one white wine offering—a buttery, silky, full-bodied Chardonnay. I asked him why bother with a white wine. He smiles and says his wife prefers white wine. We proceed to taste the following reds:

ICELLARS 2015 Pinot Noir reminded me of a wine from Oregon with a hint of dill on the nose. On the palate it was rich with dark fruit of cherry and a pleasant finish. This wine was aged 13 months in French oak. This was a favourite of my wife’s.

ICELLARS 2014 Arinna named after a Hittite city in Turkey, is a blend of 66% Cabernet Sauvignon, 33% Merlot and 1% Cabernet Franc, and aged 12 moths in French and American oak. It had a wonderful nose of tobacco and dark berries. The finish showed its youth with loads of tannin.

ICELLARS 2015 Cabernet Sauvignon grown on 10 acres of the special red soil running through his land is big and bold. This wine had loads of black currant, blackberry and dark cherry on the nose. The taste is just as big and rich with fruit and tannins. This youthful wine has great potential to age well but very drinkable today.

ICELLARS 2014 Wiyana Wanda (means “land of wine”) is their premier reserve Bordeaux-style wine made of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Merlot and 6% Cabernet Franc. This wine is aged for 24 months in French oak. This was a big, solid, chewy red with jammy dark berries and lots a room to age.

I had to pinch myself to remind me that I was still in the Niagara wine region and not in an established red wine region like Napa or Bordeaux. These aren’t inexpensive wines but the passion and dedication going into each bottle is commendable. Adnan and his assistant winemaker Daniel have just started. I can’t imagine what they will be producing once the vines mature and they expand the vineyard. “I” look forward to watching ICELLARS continue to redefine red wines in the Niagara Peninsula.

Colaneri Estate Winery

The next story is more like a fairy-tale. Joseph and Maria Colaneri, with their two sons, Mike and Nick, immigrated from Frosolone, Italy in 1967 to start a new life in Canada. They worked hard to acquire 40 acres of vineyard where the Colaneri Estate Winery is located today, complete with a 31,000 square foot Tuscany villa-like structure surrounded by vineyard. They started producing their first vintage in 2008. Every line of wine produced has its own homage to the family’s history, which illustrator Maximilian Kaiser captures beautifully depicted labels which imitate the style of Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. True to the Colaneri family roots the wines have an Italian-flare to match their Italian roots.

The winemaker happens to be Andrzei Lipinski (winemaker/owner of Big Head) using his successful appassimento technique that originates from Italy’s Amarone wine style. After our experience at Big Head we were easily drawn into these big, full-bodied and aromatic red wines. They had over eight different reds to enjoy but we quickly zeroed in on two wines: 

Colaneri 2013 Insieme is a blend of 36% Merlot, 31% Cabernet Sauvignon, 19% Cabernet Franc, and 14% Syrah, which uses a 100% appassimento drying treatment. This wine is loaded with black cherry, chocolate, black pepper and vanilla, with a hint of spice and smoked cedar. This wine is full body with a solid finish.

Colaneri 2014 Caraggioso is a full-bodied Cabernet Sauvignon, of which uses 80% appassimento treatment. This wine was loaded with blackberry and cherry tunes, providing a spicy, chocolate finish.

Megalomaniac Wines – John Howard Cellars of Distinction

Our final stop, which was not located in the Regional Appellation of Niagara-on-the-Lake, was Megalomaniac Wines. This winery is located in the Niagara Escarpment & Twenty Valley region, which is closer to the city of Hamilton. Megalomania is situated on the highest elevation in this region with stunning views of the Niagara Escarpment and Lake Ontario. It seems this place didn’t exist 10 years ago, but today, it’s a 110-acre winery that produces over 40,000 cases.

The brainchild behind this mega marketing machine is John Howard who’s no stranger to the wine scene in the Niagara Peninsula. A successful business man (not an unusual start in this area) turned wine baron started his Midas touch by purchasing Vineland Estates Winery in the early 1990s. Here he transformed an old Mennonite homestead into a wine country destination, increasing wine production by 14 times and opening one of the first winery restaurants. In 2004, he sold the winery and was set to retire but opportunities kept knocking at his door. Before he knew it, he was on top of the hill (literally) and part owner of three Bordeaux wineries with Jean-Philippe Janoueix in France in the Saint Emilion region. This man is serious about his red wines.

This place was slick. No details were missed in creating a hip and up-in-coming experience. The wines labels are some of the best graphic designs I've ever seen. I was starting to smell another marketing hot-shot and doubting what was in the bottle – no heart!

We were pleasantly surprised to find the wine inside could match the hype outside. We tried the Megalomaniac 2015 Groundbreaker Red, 2015 Pompous – Reserve, 2014 Homegrown – Reserve and the Megalomaniac 2015 Bigmouth Merlot.

The most memorable was the Megalomaniac 2015 Bigmouth Merlot. We’re talking big jammy fruit, an earthy, smoky nose, flavours of dark cherry, strawberry and rhubarb, firm tannins and a spicy finish—complex!

It’s fair to say that Mr. Howard has a passion for Bordeaux style wines, so no surprise his winery is working hard to reach the standards of a grand cru at an affordable price. The most expensive wine was the Bigmouth Merlot at $35.

Big Red Wines. Big Hearts.

We were pleasantly surprised and delighted to find some of the best Canadian red wines in the Niagara Peninsula. I would have never thought this could be true without physically tasting these wines in person.

The wine makers are passionate people dedicated to making wonderful, memorable red wine blends that can stand-up against Europe and California wineries.

They just need time. Time for the vines to mature and expand their roots deep into the soil. Time to build an adequate supply of fruit to create an economy of scale that brings the bottle cost down to a manageable level. And time to get the word out that great red wines do exist in the Niagara Peninsula.

We know, we experienced only a small portion of what is out there during our weekend wine tour. We look forward to continue our journey to find more gems and hear incredible stories of how making red wine turned into a passion that flows through their veins and hearts.

Until my next BIG wine discovery to cellars unknown (to me), I look forward to hearing from others on a similar journey. Cheers!

Other wine articles you might enjoy:

How To Pick A “Good” Bottle Of Wine

Awesome Red Wine + Okanagan + Affordable = Mission Impossible?

In Search of Big Reds

The South Okanagan Winery Adventure – From Glass to Glass